NEW YORK - The head of a leading Chinese human rights group called on China to free all political prisoners to give the Beijing government "a good start" after the death of Deng Xiaoping yesterday. Mr Xiao Qiang, the leader of Human Rights in China, a prominent New York based rights group, said Deng's death could be a catalyst for major changes in human rights policy.
"Human Rights in China is calling for an amnesty of all political prisoners in China to correct the wrongdoing of the past and give the future government a good start," he said. According to Chinese government figures, there were at least 3,000 political prisoners in China and he said the true figure was probably many times that number.
"My hope is that there is now a relaxation on the human rights issue in China. Deng's death could be a catalyst for change as Deng's position was that there would be no change during his lifetime," Mr Xiao added.
He predicted there would be a power struggle in China because "that would be a natural result of Deng's death. As long as he was alive, he could suppress any attempts to challenge him. This is a turning point."